A New Jersey woman who was the first ever person to receive a groundbreaking combined pig kidney and mechanical heart pump transplant has passed away three months after undergoing innovative surgeries.
A pioneering medical journey
Lisa Pisano, who successfully underwent both procedures in April, initially showed signs of recovery. However, her health deteriorated, leading to her death on Sunday, her surgeon announced.
Complications and challenges
Doctors had to remove the pig’s kidney 47 days after the surgeries due to damage caused by her heart medications. Pisano was placed back on dialysis and continued using the heart pump but ultimately entered hospice care, according to Dr. Robert Montgomery, a transplant surgeon at NYU Langone.
“Lisa helped bring us closer to realizing a future where someone does not have to die for another person to live,” said Montgomery. “She will forever be remembered for her courage and good nature.”
Overcoming end-stage conditions
Pisano, from New Jersey, was suffering from end-stage kidney disease and heart failure when she received the gene-edited pig kidney and heart pump at a hospital in New York. Despite knowing the risks, Pisano saw the surgery as an opportunity.
“My doctors thought there may be a chance I could be approved to receive a gene-edited pig kidney, so I discussed it with my family and my husband. He has been by my side throughout this ordeal and wants me to be better,” Pisano said earlier this year.
Due to a shortage of human organ donations and her other chronic health conditions, Pisano was not a viable candidate for a traditional kidney and heart transplant.
A bold decision
In April, Pisano, 54, acknowledged the uncertain outcome of the surgery but chose to proceed. “Worst case scenario, if it didn’t work for me, it might have worked for someone else,” she said at the time.
Pisano is the second person ever to receive a kidney from a gene-edited pig. The first was Richard Slayman, who underwent the surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in March. Slayman died in early May, nearly two months post-surgery, from a preexisting heart condition unrelated to the transplant, according to his doctor.
Addressing the organ shortage crisis
Both pioneering surgeries aimed to find viable alternatives to human organ donations amidst a severe shortage. There are over 100,000 people on the transplant waitlist in the United States, with the majority in need of a kidney.